- Judges are reading the verdict in the case against alleged Bali bomber Umar Patek
- Patek has admitted he helped mix explosives but denies involvement in the planning
- The 45-year-old spent 10 years on the run, was arrested in Abbottabad, Pakistan last June
- Charges include premeditated murder for the Bali bombings which carries the death penalty
(CNN) -- In front of a packed courtroom in Jakarta Thursday, a panel of five judges is delivering the verdict in the trial of Umar Patek -- a 45-year-old Indonesian man accused of taking part in the 2002 Bali bombings.
More than 200 people killed when blasts tore apart two nightclubs in Kuta, a town popular with tourists on the Indonesian island. At the time, the country's police chief called the attack "the worst act of terrorism in the country's history."
Patek spent more than 10 years on the run before he was arrested on June 25, 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the same village where U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a few months later. Patek was extradited to Indonesia in August.
Patek is facing six charges including premeditated murder for his part in the Bali bombings, as well as helping build bombs used in a series of attacks on Christmas Eve in 2000. He is also accused of smuggling firearms from the Philippines to Indonesia and planning a militant camp in Aceh in 2010. The charge of premeditated murder carries the death penalty if he is convicted.
Patek has denied all but one allegation, that he helped mix less than 50 kilograms of explosives used in the Bali bombings.
Umar Patek
According to testimony given on May 31 during his trial, Patek said that 950 kilograms of explosives had already been combined but he reluctantly agreed to mix the remainder.
"When I saw Sawada, aka Sarjiyo, looking exhausted and nervous, finally I agreed to helped him and both of us mixed the explosive ingredients that were less then 50 Kg. I did it lazily because it didn't come from my soul and it was contrary to my conscience," he said, according to an English translation of his testimony.
Sarjiyo was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for his role in the attacks.
During his trial, Patek asked for forgiveness for the bombings, which he said he "even suggested canceling."
After the attacks, he said he felt "remorse and regret. I said that it was my last involvement on that kind of action in Indonesia. Please know that whether I came to Bali or not the Bali bomb would still have happen(ed)," he said.
Patek's lawyer argued that his client was not directly involved in the planning of the bombings.
He doesn't deny helping assemble the bombs used in the Bali attack but was unaware how they would ultimately be used, said his lawyer, Asludin Hatjani, during Patek's trial which started in Febraury.
Hatjani slammed the prosecution case as "vague and far from the truth," and also argued that an anti-terrorism law introduced in Indonesia in 2003 could not be used retroactively for the 2002 attacks. Prosecutors have used several articles under the penal code, the emergency rule law and the 2003 anti-terrorism law to charge Patek.
Patek is one of the last figures associated with a splinter group of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror network behind the Bali bombings and other attacks in Indonesia.
Many in that group, like Patek, trained and fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s and were deeply influenced by bin Laden's teachings.
Three of the masterminds of the Bali bombings -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron -- were executed in 2008.
Asludin Hatjani, Patek's lawyer
Patek fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines with several other Indonesian militants. One of them was Dulmatin, another former JI member, who returned to Indonesia and helped set up a military-style training camp in province of Aceh. He was killed in a police raid just outside Jakarta in October 2010.
Patek returned to Indonesia from the Philippines in 2009. Prosecutors allege he was involved in preparing firearms for the Aceh training camp, a charge the defense disputes.
"Patek was only in transit in Indonesia and was not involved in training of firearms," said Hatjani. "He was there to attend a wedding and he didn't even see the firearms."
Indonesian authorities have tried and convicted hundreds of terrorists since the 2002 Bali bombings. The arrests of senior militants with combat experience have weakened the terror network and its ability to launch major attacks.
Radical Indonesian cleric sentenced to 15 years in prison
According to recent reports by the International Crisis Group, the terror threat in the country remains but has shifted to attacks on Indonesian authorities, with smaller groups or radicalized individuals targeting the police.
CNN's Kathy Quiano and journalist Rudy Madanir in Jakarta contributed to this report.
